Moving Day

Well, the blog is moving today.

Check it out at thetechproject.wordpress.com.

Enjoy!

Eragon

...or not.

What I've Done

Linkin Park has hit my list of music today.

I mean, I've enjoyed their music before, but I was watching Transformers today, and the song right before the ending credits is "What I've Done," which is a song I really love.

What does all this have to do with The TECH Project? Well, let me show you the line of events leading to this conclusion.

1. I was at my boyfriend's house today, watching Transformers.
2. My boyfriend is one of the people that a minor character is based on in The TECH Project.

If that's too simple for you, try this one on for size.

1. I was at my boyfriend's house today to watch Transformers.
2. Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
3. My ex-boyfriend and I had a huge fight last year on MLK Day that eventually led to the horrible demise of our relationship.
4. The ex is friends with Keith.
5. Keith is friends with Karla.
6. Karla is friends with the girl I based Zoe Lee on.
7. Zoe Lee is the protagonist of The TECH Project.

Yeah. Lots of steps. I suppose I could make it more complicated if I really had to...

I discovered a new writer the other day: Heather Brewer. She's the author of Eight Grade Sucks and its upcoming sequel. Check out her blog, Bleeding Ink.

Sick Day

Well, Mom took a sick day today, so now I'm stuck at home blogging while I wait for her to come back from the Wal-Mart.

Sigh.

Writing news, though: I managed to take down a list of all the contests this year I could possibly enter. Did you know that there was an essay contest for vegetarianism? I didn't, but that's interesting.

Right, I promised a photo shoot update.

• Zoe Lee, Purple: apparently, considering her comments, definitely yes (T.M.)
• Gordy Johnson, Dark Gray: yes (B.S.)
• Maria Aguinaldo, Red: definitely yes (F.C.)
• Ian Drake, Light Blue: still waiting, not likely
• Juliet Martin, Yellow: yes (A.P.)
• Chloe Sibylle, White: still waiting, unknown

The rest of the list is the same.

CWIM

I have discovered the greatest resource in children's and young adult writers' known market: the Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market, published by Writer's Digest Books.

The books is full of all sorts of helpful things, including a listing of agents, tips on writing query letters, a magazine submission section, and even a comprehensive listing of publishers. I bought it at Barnes & Noble for less than $30, which isn't too bad.

How did I happen upon this, you might ask?

Actually, I found it when I was looking for a way to sell "My Sacrifice" to a magazine. (For that question, check out the last post I wrote.) Unfortunately, there aren't too many magazines that publish young adult science fiction short stories. Here's my list of "eligible" magazines:

• Advocate
• Cicada
• New Moon
• Odyssey (with limitations)

Four magazines. There's also the ever-popular Magazine for Fantasy and Science Fiction. Lovely, yes? I suppose if I wanted to broaden the spectrum, I could edit out the sci-fi bits, but that's no fun.

(Just for fun... "My Sacrifice" is 1,509 words long. That's 9 words too long for Advocate, almost too short for Cicada, 991 words short of the max limit for New Moon, and 309 words too long for Odyssey. Y'know, if it fits a theme for the magazine anyway.)

Anyway, just talking about a few options, particularly for sci-fi YA writers. Honestly, there are tons of options for fantasy writers, but not so much for science fiction writers.

Next post will be about the (hopefully) upcoming photo shoot.

Question

Long time no write.

December was a busy month. There was exam week, studying for exam week, the talent show that I was in charge of, Christmas shopping, actual Christmas... there was hardly any time to check e-mail, let alone post!

For my final portfolio in Creative Writing, I managed to pull out a great short story. The title was "My Sacrifice", and it was about Zoe Lee, the protagonist of The TECH Project.

I've been working on a few short stories to submist to magazines. So, my question is this: should I attemt to submit "My Sacrifice" and get it published, or should I keep it to myself?

Pondering

Recently, there's been something I have been thinking about. A lot. It puzzles me.

Why is darkness always perceived as something evil?